


Interlude: The Play's The Thing

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Marks [5]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: AU, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:18:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6836917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Stargate Atlantis, Ronon Dex +/ any, Ronon produces a traditional Satedan play/musical for the expedition."</p><p>For Elizabeth's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude: The Play's The Thing

“I’m sorry, you need what?”

John typically didn’t listen too closely to Evan’s requisition requests, because he trusted Evan to do what needed to be done and bring any extraordinary requests (larger arms) to his attention. But when Evan said he needed to borrow Major Li from AR-7 to barter for sewing supplies and art inks on a friendly planet, that gave John pause.

“For Ronon’s play,” Evan said. “For Elizabeth’s birthday this year.” He blinked earnestly at John. “Didn’t you see? Auditions are over the next eight designated Sundays.”

“I’m not much of an actor.” John swallowed hard. “You should ask Rodney, though. He got a Sears Drama Award when he was twelve.”

Evan raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah. He mentions it every once in a while.” The thought of getting up on stage and acting was frankly terrifying. John had gone to great lengths in high school and college to avoid reading aloud in class. He’d rather get chased by a Wraith than act on a stage.

“Even if you don’t want to act,” Evan said, “you could audition for the orchestra. You play the guitar, right?”

“I do, but I was never really the orchestra type. Not much of a joiner,” John said.

Evan flicked a glance at the silver oak leaves adorning John’s collar and raised his eyebrows but didn’t say a word.

John signed the requisition form and dismissed Evan with a wave of his hand.

Evan was almost out of earshot before John realized all of what Evan had said.

“Wait, _Ronon_ is doing a play?”

After Elizabeth’s first birthday in Atlantis, which had started as a small cake-and-candle ceremony and exploded into a multi-cultural celebration, including the majority of the Athosian population, Elizabeth had had to put some limits on what the expedition did to celebrate her. Now it was restricted to one evening of celebration and no crazy extravagant gifts - one thoughtful, homemade group gift was more than enough.

Apparently the expedition’s gift this year was a play.

Everyone was buzzing about it. Auditions were held in waves on a series of successive designated Sundays so everyone on the expedition had the opportunity to audition or volunteer if they chose. And everyone wanted to contribute something. Those who had no musical or dramatic skill volunteered their services making sets and props, tailoring costumes and, if nothing else, donating random items to be used as props in the play and fetching and carrying. John might have been alarmed at the sheer scale the production must have required, given how everyone was involved, but no one was shirking their duties, so John wasn’t overly alarmed.

Elizabeth’s birthday was a month away, and the cast and orchestra had been chosen, but everything was very secretive. There were some ruffled feathers over who was cast and chosen, but not so much of a kerfuffle that John actually knew who was part of the cast versus part of the orchestra or crew.

“What’s the play actually about?” John asked Rodney over lunch.

“It’s based on a Satedan mythological epic,” Rodney said. “Ronon adapted it from an epic poem.”

“Is there anything Ronon can’t do?” John muttered.

“Science.”

“True.” Given what John knew about Evan, who was an artist, a geophysicist, a photographer, a pilot, a baker, maybe it made sense that Evan was compatible with Ronon, who was apparently the Pegasus equivalent of a Renaissance Man. “What’s the story about?”

“Soul Mates,” Rodney said.

Right. Matching Marks on Sateda were the stuff of myth and legend. “What about Soul Mates?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?”

“What is Satedan theater even like? Is it going to be like Shakespeare?” Shakespeare had gotten a lot more interesting once John learned all the dirty jokes and puns the plays were riddled with.

“It’s a cross between Noh drama, classical Greek chorale, and Broadway musicals.”

John had been raised a Sheppard. He was pretty well-versed in fine arts and culture. He had no idea how all three of those things would go together.

So he resigned himself to waiting.

When Elizabeth’s birthday finally arrived, she was escorted to the commissary, which had been rearranged as the theater. She was presented with a special birthday cupcake with a candle on it (Evan had also traded for baking supplies and the KP marines had been slaving away for two days to have enough cupcakes for the entire expedition), and there was singing and applause, and then everyone settled into their seats, and the lights went down.

And the music started.

It occurred to John, as the first notes from the orchestra swelled and filled the room around them, that Satedan music probably didn’t even correlate to the Western scale of music.

It took a moment before he recognized the song the musicians were playing.

David Bowie’s Heroes. But not like David Bowie had ever intended it, with sweeping piano (Rodney was at the piano) and a classic upright bass, and where on Atlantis had these instruments been stored? Cadman, wearing a bright red shift, sat front and center of the stage, and sang. She had a smooth, jazzy voice, and behind her, the curtains rose.

There were two actors in brightly stylized costumes and wearing masks. It took John a moment to figure it out, but they were both - Atlantis Expedition Members. The heroes of the story. Hence the song, _we can be heroes_. One was a scientist, the other was a soldier, but then the scientist, in broad, exaggerated gestures, shed his science jacket and donned a soldier jacket, and - wait, was it just John, or did the scientist have a Stargate painted on his forehead?

Hang on - was this about Rodney and John? Because John was pretty sure neither he nor Rodney had any place in Satedan myth and legend.

The backdrop was of countryside, and black-clad stagehands drifted past, carrying bits of scenery to indicate the country passing by as the two heroes marched and arrived at the gates of - Atlantis?

The song ended and segued into another one, this time a chorus of women singing to yet another jazzed-up version of Welcome to the Jungle. John sneaked a glance at Elizabeth. Her eyes were wide, and she was delighted.

The titles of the song were more instructive than the actual lyrics of each song (sung, indeed, by a Greek-like chorus of women - or Cadman solo - in flowing red shifts). John pieced together the plot easily enough. The Scientist was pretending to be a Soldier, and they trained together in Atlantis, and they fell in love (as evidenced by the masks on the Soldier switching, a Stargate coalescing on his forehead to match the Scientist’s, and a jazzy rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine featuring impressive trumpet work from Grodin). The Soldier didn’t know the Scientist wasn’t really a Soldier, and they swore to fight side-by-side.

Then the Scientist was called home (Boulevard of Broken Dreams - and where had Ronon found all of these songs?) and the Soldier was sent off to fight without him (Living on a Prayer), and the Soldier died and was buried in the countryside (Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging). The Scientist was heartbroken (My Heart Will Go On - seriously?), but his family betrothed him to someone new. (The fiancee looked suspiciously like Teyla, but the actress playing her wasn’t Teyla.) The Scientist (now back in his proper uniform) lamented this betrothal to someone he didn’t love (Break Free), and was comforted by his sister (Don’t You Worry Child).

The Evil Fiancee tried to march him to the marriage altar (Bad Romance), but a freak storm (depicted by fluttering silks in shades of blue) prevented The Evil Fiancee from getting past the point in the countryside where the Soldier was buried. The Soldier burst out of his grave (Mad World) and slew the Evil Fiancee, and he swept the Scientist into a kiss, and then there was a flash of smoke and both actors were gone and paper sparrows were winging their way toward the ceiling, and for the final number (Such Great Heights), the shadows of the Soldier and Scientist (artful paper puppets) could be seen dancing among the swallows.

The entire production was insane and energetic and beautiful, and John was still stunned when the curtain fell, but Elizabeth was on her feet, applauding and cheering, and then the actors (Parrish as the Soldier, Stackhouse as the Scientist, Heightmeyer as the Evil Fiancee, Marie as the Sister) came out to take their bows, and John stumbled to his feet, cheering. When Cadman and the chorus came to take their bows, the audience screamed even louder, and then, when Rodney, as the pianist and orchestra leader stepped forward, John couldn’t help himself.

He darted past Elizabeth and grabbed Rodney, tugged him into a kiss. No one on the Expedition knew they were a Match, but everyone knew they were in love, and the cheers turned deafening, and then turned louder when Ronon and Evan took their bows and embraced, and all in all, the night had been perfect.

Elizabeth said, once John and Rodney and Evan and Ronon pulled apart, “Happy Birthday to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Plot of the play based on The Butterfly Lovers, soundtrack inspired by Postmodern Jukebox.


End file.
